The Marinara For This Italian Zucchini Recipe:
For the sauce, you can use any marinara sauce recipe you love or your favorite jarred marinara . My favorite homemade marinara is also really easy and so delicious!
You will want to make sure you have enough marinara available to go over the zucchini and some extra to go over some pasta like my garlic and oil pasta if you are serving some on the side Maybe you want to serve it with bread to soak up the sauce!
How To Make It
*See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Slice zucchini into 1/4 inch slices, no thicker. Salt each side and place in between paper towels for up to an hour to extract water. Pat each one dry before dredging.
Dip each slice into beaten egg whites & garlic powder. Transfer to breading mixture and coat generously.
Fry in preheated 350° oil until golden brown on each side. Transfer to a cooling rack.
*Note: The recipe card at the bottom of this post has instructions for baking or air frying the zucchini if preferred.
Spoon marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Add a layer of fried zucchini and top with marinara and mozzarella.
Add additional layers of zucchini, marinara, and mozzarella until youve used all of the zucchini. You can do this in clean stacks or overlap them within the casserole dish.
Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and begins to brown slightly. Serve!
Allow To Rest Before Serving
Another trick is to let the zucchini parmigiana rest at least 15 minutes before serving.
As it cools a bit, the ingredients, especially the melted mozzarella, will compact and take on the right consistency.
Its never a good idea to cut and eat parmigiana while still hot, right out of the oven. Thats why they say that the next day is even better!
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Baked Zucchini With Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 5 minutes
- 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder or 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Notes:
- Try other seasonings such as onion powder, oregano or basil.
- Use 2 cups finely chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes.
- Try adding cilantro on top for more flavor.
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Baked Ziti With Summer Squash
Makes 4 to 6 servings. Recipe is by Teresa B. Day.
2 small yellow squash
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 pound Italian sausage
1 cup tomato sauce, homemade or purchased
4 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
8 ounces cooked pasta
2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1. Heat oven to 425 F. Cut squash and zucchini into half-moons about ½ inch thick.
2. Toss squash in 1 tablespoon olive oil with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
3. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until slightly browned.
4. Brown sausage in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain.
5. Sauté onion and garlic in remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until tender.
6. Return the drained sausage to the pot with the onions. Stir in tomato sauce and bring to a simmer.
7. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella cheese until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in cooked pasta and squash.
8. In a separate bowl, stir together sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and Italian seasoning.
9. In a greased casserole dish, layer half the pasta and sausage mixture then half the sour cream mixture. Repeat with second half of meat and sour cream mixtures. Top with remaining 2 cups cheese.
10. Bake at 350 F about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.
TESTED RECIPE
Makes 4 to 6 cups of sauce. Recipe is by Teresa B. Day.
cup olive oil + 2 tablespoons
cup garlic cloves
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You Can Assemble Zucchini Parmigiana
Step 5) Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a little tomato sauce. Arrange an even layer of zucchini, on top put some slices of mozzarella.
Step 6) Add plenty of grated Parmigiano, some more tomato sauce, and finally some chopped basil leaves .
Step 7) Continue making layers as described above. Finish the last layer with mozzarella, Parmigiano and a few basil leaves. Add a drizzle of oil.
Step 8) Bake no-Fry Zucchini parmesan in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the zucchini parmigiana rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
You can eat zucchini alla parmigiana while still warm or at room temperature, depending on your tastes and the season.
Storage & Reheating Recommendations
- To store. Place the prepared pasta and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.
- To reheat. Gently rewarm leftovers in a Dutch oven or large pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat, splashing in broth, cream, almond milk, regular milk or water as needed to loosen the sauce. You can also reheat this recipe in the microwave.
As usual, PLEASE let me know if you make this recipe and how you like it! You can come back here and leave a comment or tag me on .
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Why You Should Make This Recipe
- Creamy and full of flavor. You will love how creamy and flavorful this rose sauce comes out.
- Easy to make. One of my favorite things about this recipe is how easy it is to make it with just a handful of simple ingredients. In just about 25 to 30 minutes, you will have a delicious tasting pasta meal on your table for the family.
- Versatile dish. You can keep this dish vegetarian and make it as is, or you can get as creative as you like by adding any protein of choice or veggies like spinach and mushrooms.
How To Avoid Baked Zucchini From Getting Soggy
Zucchini contains a lot of water, so when it bakes it can release a lot of excess water making your baked zucchini come out watery. If you have extra time, you can do this to prevent zucchini from getting soggy: Lightly salt your diced zucchini on all sides, then place it on a thick layer of paper towels. Let the diced zucchini sit here for 15 minutes, then flip them over and let them rest for another 15 minutes. Youll see how much water comes out of the zucchini and is absorbed by the paper towel! Do not add any salt to the recipe afterward.
Alternately, you can saute the zucchini in a skillet with a little olive oil before tossing it with the other ingredients.
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Baked Zucchini And Cheese Recipe
Baked zucchini is an easy recipe, and always a crowd-pleaser. Youll love this cheesy baked zucchini recipe: Its vegetarian, low-carb, keto, gluten-free, and made in 30 minutes. Plus, it makes a great recipe for using up all of that amazing summer zucchini! We tell you: If you want to get the kids to eat some veggies, then this is the recipe for you!
Cheesy Baked Zucchini With Marinara
Cheesy Baked Zucchini with Marinara is about to save your weeknight dinner routine. Tender zucchini is topped with rich and baked with melty, bubbly cheese and served as a simple and delicious side dish.
Its low carb, vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto too. The best part? You can have this on the table in just under 30 minutes .
We love to find new ways to cook with this summer squash at the peak of its season. Whether thats baking Zucchini Bread, making Zucchini Fritters, or cooking Air Fryer Vegetables. But honestly, baked zucchini with marinara and cheese is one of my favorite ways to cook with it because its a kid-friendly and loved by the whole family.
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Traditional Italian Zucchini Parmigiana
The traditional zucchini parmigiana recipe calls for frying the zucchini. In this recipe we have shown you the lighter version, with zucchini baked in the oven.
If you want to make the traditional recipe, heres how you need to do it.
Many people dip the zucchini first in white flour and then fry them.
In some recipes you will also find zucchini dipped first in eggs and then in bread crumbs. This is certainly a richer and tastier version, which you can consider a single dish.
In fact, pan-fried breaded zucchini is already a finished dish, a really tasty and crispy side dish. Absolutely a must try!
If you use the breaded zucchini to make the parmigiana layers, your dish will be irresistible but certainly not dietetic!
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How To Make Zucchini Parmesan
While the oven is set to preheat to 420ºF, youll first need to cut the ends off of your zucchini and slice it into rounds. Next, lay some parchment paper over a baking sheet, and set this aside while you assemble the ingredients:
Make the panko mix and egg coating. In one bowl, whisk together the breadcrumbs and seasonings, along with one cup of the grated parmesan. In second bowl, beat the eggs for the egg wash.
Prep the zucchini. Working one at a time, dip the zucchini slices first into the eggs, then into the seasoned panko crumbs. Make sure to coat both sides with a nice, even layer. Lay your breaded zucchini pieces flat on the lined baking sheet. Its OK if your baking sheet gets a little crowded a little overlapping never hurt these zucchinis.
Bake the zucchini. Pop the baking sheet into the oven and let the zucchinis bake up nice and crisp. It should take about a half hour for the breading to get lightly golden, which is what were after.
Cook the pasta. While my zucchini is baking, I like to use the time to prepare the spaghetti. Boil the pasta al dente in generously salted water, then drain the noodles and toss them in a bit of pasta sauce to coat. Meanwhile, lower the oven temperature to about 350ºF.
Bake. Bake the zucchini parmesan uncovered at 350ºF for about 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
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Zucchini Tomato Cheese Casserole
This is Zucchini Tomato Cheese Casserole easy to throw together for a light lunch, or side dish.Our layered casserole has fresh thin sliced zucchini, a ripe layer of plum tomatoes seasoned with garlic and herbs in a rich tomato sauce baked with tasty melted provolone cheese on top.Seriously if you love easy recipes and vegetables this will be a home run for your recipe collection!A few other ingredient suggestions can make it a meat lovers dream and we will also include that in the cooks notes.We have a few favorite substitutions and mix and match vegetables also to change it up a little like eggplant or even cooked ground sausage.If you love zucchini you may also like to try our Easy Baked Zucchini Lasagna or Zucchini Rollatini both delicious casseroles!Scroll down for this printable recipe card plus step-by-step zucchini casserole instructions.
How To Make Zucchini Alla Parmigiana
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
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Baked Yellow Squash And Zucchini Parmigiana Recipe Notes
- How to layer the parmigiana. Start with a base of . This light, simple tomato sauce gets topped with diced onions and the squash, and more marinara. Bake this until the zucchini and squash become fork tender. Finally, top everything with grated mozzarella cheese. This all bakes until the whole thing comes together in a melty, bubbly, golden casserole.
- I recommend making a homemade marinara . But if you are not into making marinara and want to get right down to making the parmigiana, the only acceptable jarred brand is, in my opinion, Raos.
- The squash will release a fair amount of liquid as it cooks. The bottom of the casserole may be a bit watery. Either let the dish cook a little longer, uncovered, or just scoop the squash with a slotted spoon. Alternatively: Serve the liquid with some good, crusty bread to soak it up.
Making This Zucchini Recipe:
Now even though this is called a baked zucchini, the zucchini is cooked first either in a skillet or on a grill pan. You bake everything together after preparing your ingredients until it is bubbly and the cheese is nice and melted.
This is also not a layered dish like a lasagna. Very important distinction!
The delicious part of this Italian baked zucchini recipe is that you get equal amounts of zucchini, sauce and cheese in each bite.
The flavors in this Italian zucchini recipe are so incredible and it is so easy to make. Most of the cooking and the prep work to get this dish ready can done before the baking.
If you do want to make this ahead of time, just grill or sauté your zucchini first, then gather your other ingredients and have them ready and then keep everything refrigerated until it is time to assemble .
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What Is Zucchini Parmesan
Its very similar to Chicken Parm in terms of flavor, but it uses broiled rounds of zucchini instead of breaded chicken. You top those rounds with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and crunchy panko breadcrumbs and broil it a bit longer. Voilà!
The cute round Zucchini Parmesans are great as an appetizer or a side dish. They also work plated on top of a buttery pile of rotini noodles or white rice.
Using Egg Whites For The Breading
- Traditionally, Chicken Parmesan or Eggplant Parmesan is dredged in seasoned flour, then eggs, then in a breadcrumb mixture. I tried this method with the zucchini as well, but felt like the zucchini got lost in the breading this way, the zucchini to breading ratio was off.
- So instead, I like to dip the the zucchini in egg whites because it allows the zucchini to hold on to the breading, but isnt heavy enough where the egg will bleed through. From there it goes into a seasoned breadcrumb/flour mixture with a bit of Parmesan cheese mixed in.
- This is a nice, light breading which compliments the thin slices of zucchini well.
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Tips When Working With Zucchini:
Baked Zucchini And Parmesan Fries Recipe
Baked zucchini and parmesan fries are a perfect recipe for any occasion. It is a tasty way to give your children zucchini if they do not love vegetables very much, as we all know children love crispy food. Serve it with tomato coulis dipping sauce as we bring you this simple recipe, and you can also add other dipping sauces like ranch or guacamole sauce.
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